Windows 8.1 will be a free upgrade, will begin public beta testing on June 26

Microsoft has announced that Windows 8.1, aka Blue, will be a free upgrade for all Windows 8 users. Microsoft has also confirmed that it intends to release a public preview of Windows 8.1 on June 26, the first day of the Build developer conference — and if everything goes to plan, you should be able to get your hands on Windows 8.1 sometime in the fall (it should release to manufacturing in August). As expected, there’s also a Windows 8.1 update for Windows RT.

For users who don’t already have Windows 8, you’ll have be able to buy a standalone version of Windows 8.1 — which will be priced the same as Windows 8 ($200 for the full product, or $120 for the upgrade). Microsoft has previously confirmed that Windows 8.1 will be available as an easy upgrade from the Windows Store, much in the same way that Apple distributes OS X upgrades via the Mac App Store. It isn’t clear if there will also be boxed versions of Windows 8.1, or if 8.1 will be a purely digital product.

Windows 8.1 (Microsoft, like Picasso, has now officially ended its “Blue” period) is a Windows 8 feature and service pack. Like a service pack, Windows 8.1 will roll up all of the Windows 8 security updates and fixes into a single installer. In this regard, Windows 8.1 is conventional. What is unconventional, however, is the release of a service pack that also significantly alters the interface, bundled apps, and overall user experience — i.e. a feature pack. Normally we would have to wait three years for Windows 9 for major changes, but Windows 8.1 represents the beginning of Microsoft’s shift to a faster, annual release cycle. This change, which affects almost every Microsoft software product, is due to the mobile ecosystem — and thus Microsoft’s biggest opposition — moving a lot faster than the desktop PC. Put simply, Windows 8 can’t complete in the tablet space if Microsoft only puts out a new release every three years, while Apple and Google release new OS versions every year.

Change can unquestionably be a great thing, but change for the sake of change can easily go wrong. That’s what we’re seeing with the loss of the Start button. Microsoft wanted to compete with Apple on looks and ended up putting style over function instead of building style around function.

chojin999

There is no start menu in Windows8.1 either.

And they added even more Metro stuff nonsense.

Larry

windows 8 does have a start button its in the lower left corner of the screen just move your mouse down there and it pops up when your in the desktop

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001665515099 Asok Smith

The fact that 8.1 will be free to existing 8 users is the first piece of good news from Microsoft in a long time. This is a good decision, and hopefully, a good decision like this one bodes well for Microsoft making additional good decisions in the near future. They need it. And we who depend upon Microsoft for our livelihood need it too. Badly.

http://www.facebook.com/scott.jackson.77770 Scott Jackson

Not surprised its free. MS just needs to do damage control right now and restore people’s faith in Windows after the underwhelming start for Win 8. They can’t afford to charge for things that should have been there in the first place (or never taken out). If there’s still no option to boot straight to desktop then MS is not too bright…

xxcorpxx

Damage control or is it just wiping away all the baby tears?
Boot to Desktop? Why? Booting to a screen that has all the information that’s important to you right there at a glance and then clicking the tile/icon of the application you want to launch is somehow inconvenient or harder or what? You don’t even have to double click. Just tap it once and you are in the application you want and then you can do everything just like you normally do on Windows 7. sorry, just don’t get your point.

VirtualMark

Yeah, why bother giving the majority of customers what they want? That’s good business sense, why would they want to do that?

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=562157835 Jaden Morgan

You have the mentality of a corporate executive prior to getting his ass handed back to him from consumer backlash. In which case you would publicly get axed, “retire” or “move on to better things”.

What arrogance and ignorance.

xxcorpxx

Sorry, ignorance is missing the point of how well it works just to whine like little bitches about nonsense. Nonsense.

VirtualMark

Everyone hates you – I’m proud to announce that you have won the 2013 “troll of the year” award.

http://www.facebook.com/scott.jackson.77770 Scott Jackson

I knows its not difficult to load the desktop, just as it would not be difficult for MS to give people the option to boot to the desktop instead of trying to shove an interface down their throats that only makes sense for those with a touchscreen. Especially in a corporate environment where the Metro interface will never be used, why have the added inconvenience of an interface and an extra click required to get out of it that is totally unnecessary.

xxcorpxx

No extra click and non issue booting to metro. Omg, my end user might see the weather tile, oh no!!!

Maybe, i might want my end users to see a customized metro with the stuff i fnd important for them. News about the company, or anything else.

Why is that so damn hard to get?

BigOkieTechie

Funny…

a) I could show weather updates before Metro on bootup…

b) I could show messages to users before or after login to users before Metro…

So…why was Metro/Windows 8 so essential to desktop, server, or laptop users again over Windows 7? 3 second increased boot speed? File performance increases in only some situations? Nominal-to-no graphics performance increases?

Seriously…Scott is right. Microsoft should give Windows 8 users the option to boot to Desktop or Metro on install. It’s not that hard. And, it would save them a lot of grief…and as a business do the smartest thing they could do: give customers what they want…whether that’s Metro or Desktop.

Don’t know why you are arguing against giving the user more freedom and customization. When has that ever been a bad thing?

xxcorpxx

I’m not. Not even remotely.
Booting to metro doesn’t remove a users freedom. Not sure why you would think that.

http://www.facebook.com/scott.jackson.77770 Scott Jackson

Not giving them the option to boot to the interface of their choice limits their freedom because you are are not letting them choose, so yes it does.

xxcorpxx

That’s incorrect.

Jeff G

I have a touch screen and a lot of my aps go to the desktop since they haven’t made a very finished product that should be able to do everything from the main touch screen. Very awkward!!

max999

I’ve read many stories written about Window “Blue” (8.1) in the past. From what I’ve read it doesn’t seem like much will change. I hear things like a Start button that takes you to a modified Start Screen, boot to Desktop, Snap feature and other minor tweaks but no Start Menu.

I hope Microsoft knows what it’s doing! What I fear is too little change for the many many that dislike the current Win8. This could backfire and just reignite the rage once again at this already unpopular OS.

Ben

I think someone at Microsoft for some reason couldn’t understand that MacOS and iOS or 2 different operating systems and decided they were the same one. So they decided to make everyone use an OS designed for a tablet when Apple does no such thing because it doesn’t work. Who ever came up with that idea needs to be shot.

http://twitter.com/LizardRumsfeld LizardRumsfeld

There is absolutely not “strong leaks” indicating the Start Menu will return, can be please plug this echo chamber?

Anyone who actually looks at the leaked betas so far and actually read MS’s comments, it should be clear it’s just the Start *button* – which will take you to the Start Screen. In fact from the leaked builds, the changes are extremely minimal, and most take place in the modern interface – just basic polishing. Very little is actually being done to the desktop.

The Start Menu (sadly) is NOT returning.

VirtualMark

How do you know this? They have said publicly that they have listened to feedback – if so, then that would mean a return of the full start menu and an option to boot to desktop or Metro. That’s if they’ve actually listened to feedback!

We won’t know until it’s released, so what makes you so certain?

http://twitter.com/LizardRumsfeld LizardRumsfeld

Like I just said, there are leaked builds of 8.1 already out there. They show more doubling-down on Metro and some general cleanup, but nothing indicating this level of hysteria that MS is “backpedaling” at all from their supposed “vision”. Paul Thurrott, while an obnoxious tool, still has ties inside MS. He’s confirmed the only thing coming back is the Start *button*, not the Start Menu.

Read what Julie Larson Green *actually said*:

“Although there is a tiny Start button-like UI element in the lower left
of Windows 8, Larson-Green admitted it wasn’t ideal for everyone. “It’s
hidden, so some people like the comfort of having it show up on the
screen all the time, so they just know their home place and where to
go.”

That does not indicate the Start Menu is returning at all – rather it indicates MS feels that the removal of the Start Button since the developer preview may be confusing. That’s it.

All this “Start Menu” is returning nonsense was derived from Mary Jo Foley’s blog – except *she never said that*. Again, she said the Start *button* may be returning.

Really, it’s just the usual media laziness of just repeating a story and adding embellishments to make it look like something other than a copy and paste. A responsible article would actually point out that the leaked builds so far contain no drastic changes, MS had never hinted at the Start Menu returning in any form, and MS insiders have never stated either. But that would require more than 20 minutes of actual research, so screw it I guess.

There will be no start menu, the start screen with the new live tiles sizes will cover all its functions. The start button will put you back to the screen and the Windows key will put you back on the desktop.

The boot to desktop option will not be enabled by default, which means that 90% of Windows 8 users will never use it :)

mark turchan

NO WAY!!! I will not be duped a second time. Win 7 was great. MS screwed up the launch of Win 8 by NOT letting the public choose what they wanted or needed. SO, now they expect us to humble to the will of the corporate giant AGAIN. SHAME SHAME on you people!!! WHEN ARE YOU EVER GOING TO LEARN? Boycott Win 8 & 8.1 untill they GIVE it away at a SUBSTANTIAL SAVINGS. ARE YOU ALL LOSERS to be USED by just ANYONE??? WAKE UP PEOPLE….. DO you really want to squander hard earned money oh new PC’s & Systems that just aren’t up to snuff??? Nuff said from me. When are people going to stand up and not let Corporations crap all OVER THEM??????

VirtualMark

We do stand up to them, it’s called Bittorrent.

Neon Frank

How can anyone ignore the unleashed power of the Caps Lock?

http://twitter.com/DylanMacchia Dylan

If you remember Windows 8 came out at around $40, which is a very low price compared to the hundreds of dollars it costs normally. Don’t forget that it says in the article that 8.1 will be free. So sounds like you are getting it at substantial savings. when reading your comment I pictured someone whose face is tomato red with viens poping out of your neck and face.

xxcorpxx

Sebastian, it’s really sad that no one comes here anymore. You only have the haters left. People see your article titles and can’t even bother coming by for a good discussion because they are attacked by the same like minded angry people. Sorry, that sucks for you but, attracting people with negatives just attracts negative people. 22 comments…sad.

If MS does give in to the customers, in hindsight I at least applaud them for trying to innovate past the grid of icons. So many people said MS didn’t innovate Windows anymore, but when they finally did, they realized those pundits were just hypocrites all along, crying for MS to go back to the old ways.

Jeff G

every year Microsoft gets worse. Either get Windows 8 fixed properly or I will switch to Mac. I already have an I-Pad and love it. Windows 7 was far superior to 8.

DD

Well no, it wasn’t. Windows 8 as an operating system package is a rather noticable improvement on Windows 7. Just because you don’t like metro (Which is less then 5% of what the OS actually is) doesn’t mean it’s a bad product. If you actually decided to use Windows 8 instead of just mindlessly parroting the hatewagon’s “opinion”, you wouldn’t say such silly things. I know it’s fun to get on the internets from your computer box and let everyone know that you’re angry and not going to take it anymore, but try and at least -try- to punctuate it with some actual knowledge and experience, yeah?

Also, the fact that you threaten to change over to Apple because you can’t adapt to the new Windows UI is pretty laughable. If you even for a second think that you’ll get a better experience with Apple then it’s pretty clear that you definitely need to step back from tech news sites and try something more your speed… Perhaps the Fisher Price website will be a bit more up your ally?

haemphyst

“Alley”? :P

lucretius

There appears to be various improvements to the touch interface in Windows 8.1 but no mention of even a single improvement to the desktop. Apple is starting to look better all the time.

disqus_4Hg1EtgbMa

win8 is very good!

Sean

I reeeally love windows 8. In combo with the whole ‘touchpad works like a touchscreen’ aspect it’s perfect. I don’t think I even want the upgrade.

I just cant believe how lazy people are you boot windows 8 the start screen shows up and you click on the desktop and wow your back to an operating system that looks just like the same old boring windows move your mouse into the lower left corner and bingo up pops the start button click on it and it opens the new stylized start menu . you can add shortcuts to it plus there are now apps it does not need a touch screen the mouse navigates it just fine . finally Microsoft got it right the start menu is now the start menu . if you want to multitask just bring up the desktop . One thing that I would like to see is the ability of non app programs such as games to open from the start screen without opening the desktop .

Robert Wood

Free Windows 8.1 upgrade from windows 8 is a scam!!!! I upgraded using the windows store then tried to create recovery software or refresh install but am not able to because the CD key is invalid. Called Microsoft support, they said it is only a trial upgrade and you would need to buy Windows 8.1 to have a valid key. The 8.1 is only valid for 90 days then if you don’t buy you will have to step down to Windows 8. They need to advertise as “free trial upgrade” not “free upgrade”. Typical Microsoft!!!

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